Edward n



(No Model.)

' E. N. DIGKERSON.

AOE'I'YLENE GAS PRODUCING APPARATUS.

No. 579.702. Patented Mar. 30, 1897.

wjiv gs s Invzdo Q20 A l A ummt, I "W UNTTnn STATES PATENT @FFTQE.

EDWARD N. DICKERSON, OF NElV YORK, N. Y.

ACETYLENE-GAS=PRODUCING APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 579,702, dated March30, 1897.

Original application filed January 3, 1896, Serial No. 574,205. Dividedand this application filed May 25, 1896. Serial No.

592.980. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, EDWARD N. DIOKERSON, residing in the city, county,and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Im-. provement inGas-Producing Apparatus, of which the following is a full, true, andexact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to an improvement in apparatus designed for thepurpose of forming gas by the combination of a liquid and a solid, andis especially applicable to the formation of acetylene gas by combiningcalcium carbid with water. In this process the vapor of Water is carriedoff with the gas, and my invention is especially useful in condensing orremoving from said gas the vapor so carried with it. In accomplishingthis result I utilize the same body of water which is used to generatethe acetylene gas as a means of condensing the vapor in a suitablecondenser. I may also carry the condensed waterinto a receptacleindependent of the body of water itself which is above referred to. Ihave described this apparatus as connected with a special form ofgenerator, but I do not limit myself to that form.

My invention will be readily understood from the accompanying drawings,in which- Figure 1 represents a plan view; .Fig. 2, a section throughFig. 3 on the line y y, and Fig. 3 a cross-section through Fig. 2 on theline c 00.

The apparatus consists generally of a movable receptacle 2 for receivingthe calcium carbid, located inasuitable tank 1. The said receptacle ispivoted on the shaft 3, by means of which it can be elevated above thewater or depressed into the position shown in the drawings. It isprovided with a grating 19 and a pivoted grating 20. The receptacle 2may be of any suitable shape, but as shown is U-shaped in cross-section.The shaft 3 is preferably made square, though it may be of any suitableconstruction, and the receptacle 2 is carried upon it by lugs 4,provided with suitable set-screws.

When the apparatus is of considerable size, the counterbalance 7 may beemployed, and the receptacle may be elevated by means of aworm 6 andgear 5, meshing therewith. The gear is provided with stop 8, whichengages in its elevated position with stop 9 on the frame supporting theworm.

Of course in small apparatuses a worm-gear is not required, but asuitable stop should be conveniently arranged to hold the vessel in itsupper position, the said stop not being necessary where a worm isemployed. The pivoted grating is locked in its closed po sition in anysuitable way, as shown, by bellcrank bolts 21 pivoted at 22. WVhen thesebolts are thrown out of the wayas, for instance, by the connecting-bar24the grating 20 can be raised parallel to the side of the vessel inwhich it is pivoted. This is of course done when the vessel is raised,so that the U stands upright. \Vhen, however, the bar 24 is swung to theleft, as shown in Fig. 2, it is arrested by the fixed stop 25 and isheld in position by the spring 23. The receptacle or generating vessel 2is provided with a drain-cock 10, by which it can be emptied whenraised, and which cock also serves, when the vessel is lowered, to allowthe escape of any air when the gas is generating and before it passes tothe service-pipes. A flexible gas connection 11 connects with the upperpart of the generator 2, as shown in Fig. 2, and also connects with thebox 12, from which, at another part, the gas passes through thecondensing-coil 13, which connects with the water-receptacle 14, fromwhich the gas passes again to the holder or other service by pipe 18.

In the generation of acetylene gas considerable water is carried offwith the gas. This will then pass into the box 12, closed at the top andopen at the bottom, and sealed, of course, by the water in the vessel 1.Any remaining vapor will be condensed in the condenser 13 and receivedin the vessel 14, from which it can be drawn out at times through thedrip-cock 15.

The lime which falls to the bottom of the vessel 1 can be removedthrough the handhole 16 or otherwise, and the vessel itself can beemptied when desired through the drain cook 17.

The operation of my device will nowbe readily understood. The generator2 is raised to the upper position either bythe worm-gear or by asuitable handle. The grating being raised, the chamber between thegrating 19 and 20 is filled With carbid, any water in the vessel lyingat that time in the lower bend of the U. The generating-chamber is thenlowered to the position shown in Fig. 3, and the water-level beingproperly adjusted the generation of gas immediately commences. 1f desired, the air may first be purged through the purge-cock 10. Then thegas passes, as before indicated, to the holder. This action willcontinue until the carbid is exhausted if the difference in thewater-level between the outside and the inside of the generating-chamberexceeds the pressure of the holder. The waterlevel will be loweredwithin the generating vessel as the pressure in the holder increases,and the generation will be to that extent antomatically controlled.

As will be seen, the advantage of carrying out the condensed water intoa separate tank is apparent from the fact that otherwise the entirelength of the condensing-pipe could not be used as a condenser, for itwould be largely filled with water. The only available difference inheight which could be so utilized in said body of water as a condenserwould be the difference in water-level due to the pressure of the gas.

I make no claim herein to the specific c011- struction of generatorshown and described, as the same forms. the subject-matter of mycopending application, Serial No. 574,205,

filed January 3, 1890, of which the present application is a division,which has resulted in Patent No. 563,457, dated July 7, 1896.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The combination with a tank for containing a liquid, of a receptaclefor generating gas by the union of a liquid and a solid, a condenserconnected with said gas-generating receptacle and located in the liquidin the same tank in which the generator is located, an extension of saidcondenser passing through the walls of the liquid-chamber, and providedwith an outlet for withdrawing the condensed moisture, and an outlet forcarrying off the dried gas, whereby the liquid in the tank produces thegas and cools the gas so prod uccd, substantially as described.

2. The combination in an apparatus for generating gas from a solidmaterial, of a vessel containing the water which generates the gas, thegenerator 2, the condenser 13, and connections between the generator andcondenser, the generator and condenser being located in the vesselcontaining the water which generates the gas, substantially asdescribed.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

E. N. DICKERSON.

Witnesses:

ANTHONY GREF, II. COUTANT.

